If you know ahead of time that you'll be in a time crunch for a week, try this:
Boil a couple of pounds of chicken. Don't season it other than some salt. Shred it and put it in the fridge. For the next week use recipes that require little prep and use that same chicken. I suppose it can be done with ground beef as well, but haven't tried it yet. BONUS: If you use bone-in chicken it's about $1/lb cheaper!
For my week with chicken, I made:
Chicken & Veggie Soup
Curried Chicken Fruit Salad
BBQ Chicken Pita Pizzas
Chicken Enchiladas
Chicken Alfredo
Of course you have to be willing to eat the same meat for a week, but it really does same time! I always make enough to have leftovers for lunch the next day as well, so this was really helpful.